Designing light: The creative use of flash
Before we talk about artificial light, let’s take a step back. The sun is our first source of light. It is there without us having to switch it on – and we have all known it since birth. It shapes how we perceive light.
Natural light – our benchmark
We are used to lighting moods from everyday life. Some seem familiar, some dramatic, others somehow “wrong”. A few examples:
- Cloudy sky: everything appears soft, almost as if through a filter. Contrasts are low, colors desaturated. Ideal for portraits!
- Midday sun: Hard, direct light. Shadows become deep, contrasts maximum. Not particularly flattering – but very characteristic.
- Sunrise / sunset: Warm, soft light. Golden hour. Everything looks romantic or cinematic.
- Snow + sun: glistening, almost blinding light. The surroundings become a huge reflector surface.
We know these moods. They are our frame of reference. If a photo looks “well-lit”, it is often because it is reminiscent of a natural lighting situation – or deliberately goes completely against it.
Not all light is the same
If you are standing in the shade, for example, but a bright house wall around you reflects the sunlight, you suddenly get a completely different lighting mood: warm, diffuse, sideways. It feels interesting – and sometimes irritating.
And that’s where it gets exciting for creative photography.
Because now imagine:
You can recreate or even invent such situations with flash light. You are no longer dependent on the sun, the weather or the time of day.
Designing with flash – not just brightening up
1. lighten shadows – or set them deliberately
The simplest application: Someone’s face is in the shade, you put some light on it with the flash – bang, face visible, shadow reduced.
But there is another way: you can create targeted shadows to add drama or depth to the image. It’s not just about having more light – it’s about putting the right light in the right place.
2. set accents
You can use flash to highlight a specific part of the image – like a spotlight on a theater stage. For example:
- The face of a sitter in the crowd
- A hand that makes a gesture
- An object in a gloomy environment
This allows you to control not only the brightness, but also the viewer’s attention.
3. create surreal lighting moods
When you work with flash, you can create light that doesn’t exist in reality – and it still works.
- A person brightly lit at night against a dark background
- Hard shadows in the fog
- Artificially “freezing” movement in daylight
We are familiar with this surreal aesthetic from Martin Parr, for example, who works with flash even when the sun is shining – to create a flat, sometimes garish, but incredibly striking visual language. Or Bruce Gilden, who aims his flash directly at passers-by – creating a raw, almost brutal honesty.
4. documentary or staged – Blitz can do both
- Used for documentary purposes, the flash often has a direct, clear effect. Nothing is hidden. Everything is in the light.
- It’s staged when you work with several flashes, create targeted shadows or build entire sets.
The flash is therefore not a studio tool – it is a mobile light maker. You can use it anywhere: on the street, in the forest, at a festival, in your living room. As soon as you master it, your view of light changes. You no longer ask yourself: “What is the light like?” – but: “How do I want it to be?”
Conclusion: The flash as a brush of light
When you start to see flash not as a stopgap solution, but as an active creative tool, a new world opens up. You can imitate natural lighting moods – or create your own completely. You can tell photographically how a scene should feel, not just how it looks.
Here are a few ideas for your first flash pictures:
1. brighten shadows – natural light + fill flash
Scene: A person stands with their back to the sun (backlight). The face is in shadow without flash.
Task: Use a clip-on flash or small system flash to subtly brighten the face – so that it looks natural.
Goal: Natural light is retained, the face appears more lively and better modeled.
2. surreal lighting mood in daylight
Scene: A person is standing in a bright but unspectacular place (e.g. park, parking lot, concrete wall).
Task: Flash specifically from the side or with hard direct front lighting, while you strongly underexpose the ambient light (e.g. 1/200 s, f/8, low ISO).
Goal: The background becomes dark, almost “nocturnal”, while your subject shines out of the picture – surreal effect by day.
3. accent flash in the dark
Scene: A dark environment (garage, empty room, street at night).
Task: Use the flash specifically on an object or part of the body – e.g. only the face, only the hands, a detail.
Goal: Focusing through light. Only the essentials are visible – everything else sinks into darkness.
4. reflected flash light – house wall or umbrella
Scene: A person stands against a white wall or in a narrow courtyard.
Task: Do not point the flash directly at the person, but against the wall, ceiling or a white umbrella, for example.
Goal: You create a soft, natural lighting mood like on a bright day – without it looking like “flash”.
5. homage to Bruce Gilden – lightning on the road
Scene: People in motion – e.g. at a market, in a shopping street.
Task: Photograph close up (wide angle!) and flash frontally from the hand or with the flash attached.
Goal: directness, contrast, street look. Pay attention to expressions, details, dynamics. Not subtle – but impressive.
6. staged portrait with two flashes
Scene: indoors or outdoors, deliberate setup
Task: One flash as main light (slightly to the side), a second as edge / backlight or background light.
Goal: studio look on location – targeted lighting, almost cinematic.
